Friday, March 25, 2011

Just 2 weeks ago, I published an article showing the 10 youngest Catholic bishops in the World. Today I received news that the fourth youngest, Sviatoslav Shevchuk, has been elected as the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (sometimes simply referred to as the Ukrainian Catholic Church), or more specifically as Major Archbishop for this particular Catholic Church. The decision was ratified by Pope Benedict earlier today.

For a little perspective, the Ukrainian Catholic Church has over 4 million members worldwide and is in full communion with Rome and the pope, yet maintains a particularly Eastern liturgy. This is the case for 22 Eastern Catholic Churches including this one, and 1 Western Catholic Church (i.e. the Roman Catholic Church or Latin-Rite Catholic Church which comprises about 98% of worldwide Catholics).